*Dwayne Haskins Jr. – Noteworthy
Dwayne Haskins Jr. always expected to be at the NFL combine this year. It didn’t matter that the quarterback hadn’t started a game at Ohio State until 2018. He believed in his heart from the time he enrolled that he would be ready for the pros as soon as he finished the required three years of college. Haskins has never been afraid of setting goals, mentioning to a large throng of reporters around him Friday the now-famous video of him as a young boy predicting he would become an Ohio State quarterback. “I write my goals down and I go achieve them,” he said. “I wanted to be three-and-done in college. Whether that was three years starting, two years starting or one year starting, I knew I just (needed) the opportunity to play.”
After two years of waiting and learning behind J.T. Barrett, Haskins had a dazzling season. He broke numerous Ohio State and Big Ten passing records and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. Even though he was coy late in the season about whether he would head to the NFL, he revealed the truth on Friday. “It wasn’t a hard decision,” he said. “I knew once I got through the season, I’d put enough on film. I threw for 4,800 yards. I left some yards on the field, some TDs on the field. I know I can get better and I have a lot of potential, so I felt I could make the jump.” – Columbus Dispatch
*Kendall Sheffield – Noteworthy
For the second straight year at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, an Ohio State player tore a pectoral muscle during the bench press. Cornerback Kendall Sheffield can only hope that his draft stock is as unaffected by his injury as Billy Price’s was in 2018. According to witnesses, Sheffield was on his seventh rep at lifting 225 pounds when he screamed in pain and had to stop. He then was taken for an MRI. The Houston Chronicle, Sheffield’s hometown newspaper, reported that the injury was a torn left pectoral. Price suffered a partial tear of his left pectoral muscle last year. He required surgery, which prevented him from working out for teams before the draft.
The Cincinnati Bengals were undeterred by that and selected him in the first round with the 21st overall pick. Sheffield is regarded as a mid-round pick, but his speed could cause him to rise on draft boards. NFL.com named him college football’s fastest player before last season. Sheffield was a three-time Texas high school state champion in track and broke the Ohio State and French Field House indoor 60-meter record in 6.663 seconds a year ago. Defensive backs do their speed drills Monday, and Sheffield was expected to run in the 4.3-range in the 40 and possibly flirt with a 4.2 time. – The Columbus Dispatch
Parris Campbell – Noteworthy
Parris Campbell was a converted running back whose hands at his new position often failed him. Johnnie Dixon was ready to quit football because of knee tendinitis. Terry McLaurin looked like a player who might never fulfill his potential. Yet despite their struggles at Ohio State, or maybe because of them, here they all are at the NFL combine. They were the driving forces in improving the culture in the Ohio State receivers room. They became captains last year as fifth-year seniors and now are on the cusp of the NFL.
“I’m getting chills actually just talking about it, you asking that question, just because I know where each of us came from,” Campbell said. “We were at the bottom of the fishtank, working, trying to swim out. So just the amount of work that we all put in, the work that we put in together, the grind that we went through, it truly pays off.” Campbell worked diligently at improving his hands as a hybrid receiver at Ohio State. The drops became less frequent as a senior. Campbell caught 90 passes and used his rare speed for 1,063 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018. – Columbus Dispatch